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And the Grammy goes to…

Any aspiring songwriter, music technician or singer hopes to be honored at this event. The hockey arena turned auditorium shines with lights. Tens of millions of viewers tune in to watch the ceremony. The award winners are announced. There is a loud applause to commemorate the artist’s lifelong work. The Grammy Award for Album of the Year—is presented to the artists, musicians and producers of an entire album.

Compared to other Grammys such as the one for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, the Album of the Year award honors the technical, artistic and influential aspects of an album: the culmination of months or years of work. With an average of 12 songs to plan, write, record, edit and publish, every album is the work of many individuals, not just the lead singer.

This year, the Grammys feature 8 nominees that span from different genres of music: from pop, to rap, to Americana. Each nomination was selected for a different reason, whether it be unique background music, empowering lyrics, overarching theme or a mix of everything.

Even though all of the albums nominated are special in their own right, my personal favorite album is By the Way, I Forgive You. I feel like Carlile’s album maintains the most cohesive theme while making every song distinctively different. Another aspect I appreciated was the careful ordering of songs in the album: a case of which is the powerful song “Hold Out Your Hand” being followed by the caring and advising lyric “The Mother.” However, my favorite part of the album was Carlile’s singing ability All throughout, she maintains her tone quality and is able to swing her volume and pitch with ease. Carlile also sings with a blended style, drawing elements from rock, country and folk.

Regardless of who your favorite artist is, the Grammys will be giving awards for 84 categories to the musicians who made an impact to music during the past year.